Iran has had it up to here with the Internet—Google's easy access to information, iTunes' funneling in of Western Media, and don't even get them started on Stuxnet—all totally the Internet's fault. So, to preserve theocratic rule in the modern era, Iran is cutting off the Internet. Like, completely.

Iran has already taken steps to filter filth from reaching its citizens. Iranian leaders cut off VPN access before recent elections (who needs the BBC when you have state-run media?) and are currently working on their own "Clean Internet," which should be functional by August.

Well, it's more of just a National Intranet, since Iran won't actually be connected to anyone else—going well beyond China's Great Firewall. The proposed system would block Western influences like Google and Yahoo, replacing them with government-sanctioned search engines and email. Users will be required to register with the government to obtain access. Google and Yahoo will be blacked out by May with the rest of the World Wide Web going dark by mid-summer, according to Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology. [IBT via The Register - Image: Maxim Tupikov / Shutterstock